I signed up for this race as an after thought. All my energy and focus has been on the monster race coming up next Saturday. Throughout the summer, my son, Will, had expressed passing interest in doing the Saratoga Sprints tri. He didn't seem too interested in actually training, though, so I didn't think he was serious. Finally, with only a couple of weeks before the sprint, he finally told me that he really did want to do it. So, I decided it would be a fun thing for both of us to do it! My brother, Erik, was already registered for it, and so was my friend, Michelle. I figured that, if nothing else, it would be a good practice run for transitions.
On race day morning, I was nervous. So weird, because I had done this one before and the distances seemed very tame to me... and I wasn't even going to push myself on it, just take it easy and enjoy the ride, so to speak. Still, I was nervous and had a hard time eating my pre race breakfast. Half of my oatmeal went down the drain, and Bill finished the second half of my banana for me.
When we got to the marina, Bill discovered that Will's front bike tire had a slow leak, so he repaired it while Will and I went to the body marking station and got our timing chips attached to our ankles. The volunteers put a number 90 on my forearm and my left calf, and wrote my age on my right calf. Will was number 85. I actually like that everyone's age is visible on their calf, because you can see the ages of the people you pass (and passing you) in the bike and run portions. More on that later.
We arranged our bikes and gear in the transition area. For those of you who have never done or watched a triathlon, the swim portion starts the race. When athletes exit the water, they run up to the 'transition area'. This is a fenced in area where the bikes are put on racks waiting for the second part of the race. All your gear is gathered on and around the bike in (hopefully) a super organized way to speed up your transition from one segment of the race to the next. For instance, my helmet hung from the handlebars with my glasses, gloves, and race number tucked inside. My tri bag was on the ground just in front of the bike with my bike shoes resting on top, and my running gear just below (running shoes, socks, visor). When you return from the bike, you quickly hang your bike on the rack and switch to your running gear. There are plastic mats at the entrance and exit of the transition area that ping your timing chip and mark the end of segments and the beginning and ending of your transitions. So the timing chip records swim, T1 (transition one), bike, T2 (transition two), run.
After getting all set up, we wandered down to the water's edge to hear the final pre-race instructions and to say hello to several people that I know from the community (I teach in Saratoga Springs, so I knew several of the volunteers and even some of the other racers).
The race is started in waves. This keeps the water from being too crowded with thrashing bodies. Erik was in the 2nd wave, Will was in the 3rd wave, and I was in the 5th and final wave. When the race was over, I had to subtract 8 minutes from my finish time, because my wave started the race 8 minutes after the timing chips were activated.
My friend, Michelle, was in my same wave, so we got in the water next to each other and waited for our starting horn to sound. There really were not very many ladies in our wave (the 5th wave was for women ages 35 and up). There couldn't have been more than 15 of us, if that. I have not been working on speed at all in my swimming and it really showed in this race! Michelle left me in the dust (or milky, murky water since "dust" is probably not a good descriptor for a swimming race). I really struggled with the swim this time around, and it had me panicking for next weekend's race. I couldn't find my rhythm and I spent WAY too much time with my head out of the water looking forward. It wasn't until I was around the final buoy and headed back to shore that I was able to improve my technique to some extent. Still, I got out of the water feeling VERY discouraged and I walked to the transition area instead of running.
Oh, I can't forget to mention the woman doing the backstroke in front of me... going the wrong direction! I stopped her several times and pointed her in the right direction. She'd correct her course, then end up curving off on some wrong tangent again! It kept her zig-zagging in front of me and I had a hard time passing her.
When I got to transition, I found that Will was still there. He had enjoyed the swim and found it surprisingly less difficult than he had feared. That made me feel very happy! All I wanted was for him to have a good time and want to do it again next year. He was taking his time in transition. Bill and Deanna were there, just on the other side of the fencing (spectators aren't allowed in the transition area), goading Will to hurry-it-up! He took his time, though, which is totally fine, of course. This was his first ever triathlon. Next time he will streamline things and will be faster.
Will left transition a few minutes before I did, but I caught up to and passed him quickly on the bike. This was one area of the race where training really did pay off for me. My summer of cycle training has given me strong quads and hamstrings! I hammered down on the pedals and passed TONS of people! Oh! That felt GOOD! I got passed a couple of times on some hill climbs, but I blasted past them again on the downs and flats. No one passed me for a second time. Boy, this sounds like bragging, but I can't help it. I rocked the bike!
Here is where it got fun to see the ages on people's calves. I felt pretty great passing a 19 year old boy on the bike!
The bike portion of the race was along a 12 mile strip of Redwood Road. Local police turned it into a one lane road and escorted vehicles from one end to the other while racers took up both sides of the road (going out and coming back). The bike course consisted of rolling hills climbing in elevation, then returning to the marina in an awesome downhill roller coaster!
T2 (transition 2) was my fastest transition to date. In, out, and on my way in just over 2 minutes. The run portion of this race was a 5K starting in an uphill climb out of the marina and into the surrounding neighborhood. I'm not gonna lie. The run is hard to get started on. It is hard mentally, but also hard physically to start on an uphill just after getting off the bike. Confession: I walked almost all of the uphill portions of the run. I also walked through the water stations.
...and I even stopped to "take a shower" when local residents held out their hoses on sprinkler mode for the athletes passing by. I kid you not. I literally stopped and rotated in a full circle, letting some little 10 year old hose me off before thanking him and heading on my way. That home owner also set up their own watering station with the coldest water on the route! Woot, woot!
The run is the segment of the race where the numbers on the calf can be both a blessing and a curse. I am not an awesome runner, as I have already confessed, so lots of people passed me during the run. Whenever someone passed me, I always took note of their age. If it was a guy... "well, he's a guy. So it's OK that he passed me, I'm not going to sweat it." If it was a girl... "Oh, she's 24 years old. Of course she's better at this than me!" or "Dang it! She's my same age! I can't let her get away with that!" And so I'd pace her and keep up with her.
Still, all the goofing off I did meant that I expected a pretty poor run time. I was surprised, therefore, to find out that I improved upon last year's run time by over a minute!
And, I came in THIRD PLACE in my age division!
At the awards ceremony, I actually blurted out, "What?!? No way!!!" when my name was called. I know my swim was sub par, as was my run, so it must have been the bike that put me on that 'podium'. (There was no podium, really)
We stuck around post race for the prize raffle. Local businesses had donated gift certificates or other goodies, which were given out by randomly drawing out bib numbers. My brother won a RoadID, and my son won a gift card to the local tri store, which he promptly traded to another winner for the National Guard backpack that she had won. So, every triathlete in our party won something that day and we all came away from it feeling like rockstars! Add to that an awesome post race lunch at a local joint called Sean's Barbecue (yup, it was AMAZING!) and you end up with a terrific day! I'm looking forward to doing this race again next year.
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